Low Carb Recipes: Road Tested

I’ve been trying to break my carb habit and thought I’d share some quick and easy recipes that I’ve found don’t spike my sugars too much as they’re low in carb. YMMV of course and please don’t take any of this as diet advice I have no qualifications in anything medical or dietary-just many years of carb counting and watching the D diets come and go.

Do let me know if you have any great recipes, you try one of these or you have some suggestions for enhancements. Share your favourite low carb recipe in the comments section before 30 June 2015, and go in the draw to win a $15 Amazon gift voucher.

Melinda xxxx

Zucchini Pasta

I had read about this and though hmmmm but it’s great. I find this dish satisfying and yummy and very low carb, it is high in fat though so I’m sure some may recoil in horror at this recipe.

Action shot-zucchini cooking!

Simply grate peeled zuccini-I find that if you press hard with then peeler you get strips that are thick enough to resemble tagliatelle. Melt some butter in a pan, add the zucchini strips and a tiny bit of crushed garlic. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes, turn off the heat, add grated parmesan and some cracked pepper, serve immediately.

I am extremely sceptical of attempts to pretend something is what it isn’t. I tried using granulated cauli as plain rice- just steaming it in the microwave for a minute or two and having it with a curry-it’s ok but definitely not like rice. In particular it just doesn’t soak up the sauce the way rice does.

Where I did find cauliflower rice came into its own was in fried rice. It’s tasty and satisfying, really easy and quick to make-no need to be particular about quantities.

Zap the blitzed cauliflower for 1 minute on high in the microwave.

Beat an egg, then pour into lightly greased pan. Once cooked, set it aside.

Heat a little oil in pan, fry off a diced onion, some garlic and a rasher or 2 of bacon, chopped celery and a little Chinese 5 spice if you have it , for 2-3 minutes.

Add the cauliflower and some frozen peas, stir through, then add the cooked egg, soy sauce to taste.

I generally don’t need to bolus for this fried “rice”, YMMV.

Thai-style Sang Choy Bow

Ok, so this is a fusion dish inspired by a few different recipes I’ve seen. It’s easy and I just throw stuff into the pan-so it’s a bit different every time I make it.

Fry some finely diced onion, garlic and a little chill in a pan with at least a tablespoon of oil until it softens. Add chicken mince and brown it. Add a 1/4 cup of chicken stock, a couple of kaffir lime leaves, a generous whack of coriander and some garlic chives cook through on medium heat ’til the aromas are released and the dish comes together.

13 thoughts on “Low Carb Recipes: Road Tested”

Substitute part or all splenda. Because you whip the eggs first, you don’t need to worry about using a sugar subsitute. Reduce carbs further by substituting some of the flour with almond meal (though it will make it more crumbly). Make it gluten free by substituting all of the flour with cornflour, though it will rise much higher and be more “meringue” like.

The first variation below works out to be about 7g/12th of a cake! And it could go lower.

Beat whole eggs in small bowl with electric mixer until thick and creamy (small bowl to get max volume). Beating time on moderately high speed should be about 7 min. Add sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition until sugar is dissolved.

While eggs and sugar are beating, prepare pans by greasing evenly. Sift dry ingredients together at least 3 times to mix and aerate the flours.

When sugar is dissolved, transfer mixture to larger basin to make it easier to fold the dry ingredients through (not needed for 2 egg version). Sift the flours over the egg mixture and lightly fold through with a spatula.

Spread mixture into a pan and bake as per times below. When cooked, sponge will have shrunk slightly from side of pan and top will feel springy when touched (except for cornflour only sponge. It will look more like the top of a meringue and is harder to tell). Turn out sponge onto a rack and immediately turn over so as not to mark the top.

Directions
Mix or blend everything together. Form 24 small balls (smaller balls cook quicker).
Heat several tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When it is hot enough that a meatball sizzles as soon as it hits the pan, put the meatballs in. Cook for 2 minutes, then roll the meatballs over and cook 5 minutes more. Put a lid on the pan and cooking for another 6-8 minutes. Serve immediately. Alternatively just put them on an oiled tray and bake in the oven for about 20ish minutes (try about 175 degrees – I forget).

Because the rising action comes from the bicarb soda + vinegar, you don’t have to worry about the missing chemical reaction of creaming the butter and sugar together; it’s a perfect one to substitute in the Splenda.

Dark chocolate cake with whipped cream and berry jus – I was looking for a recipe for my son’s birthday. This is what I came up with. It was so delish – a bit too much actually but my BGLs were very stable.

Dark Chocolate Cake with Berry Jus and Whipped Chream:
• 200 g (~ 7 oz) dark chocolate (I used 85% cacao)
• 100 g (~ 3 1/2 oz) butter
• 100 g Natvia or equiv
• 4 tbsp almond flour
• 4 eggs
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Then start with separating the eggs. Whisk the egg yolk and the Natvia until foamy/bubbly. it should get a whitish colour. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it with the butter in a bowl over hot water. Alternatively, use a small pan over very low heat, stirring the chocolate butter mixture all the time until the chocolate is almost completely melted. Then set aside and let it cool a little bit. Meanwhile you can beat the egg white until stiff.

Add the chocolate butter mixture and the almond flour into the egg yolk mixture, and combine everything. At the end, fold in the stiff egg white very carefully.

Prepare a 26cm cake form by spreading a bit of butter inside and dust it with a little bit of almond flour to prevent the cake from sticking to the form. If you have a smaller one it’s also ok, but the cake might need a bit longer in the oven. Bake for about 40 mins. To make sure the cake is done, check it with a toothpick by sticking it into the middle of the cake. Once the toothpick comes out dry, the cake is done.

Serve with whipped cream and berry jus. For the berry jus, I put a cup of frozen berries in a saucepan, added 1 1/2 cups of water, brought it to the boil and then simmered for about 30 minutes to reduce. It wasn’t quite thick enough for me so I added a ½ tspn of xantham gum to thicken.